Animals

  1. Animals

    Static electricity can pull ticks on to their hosts

    Ticks brought near objects with a static charge frequently get pulled to those surfaces, a new study finds, suggesting one way the bugs find hosts.

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  2. Science & Society

    Humans exploit about one-third of wild vertebrate species

    An analysis of nearly 47,000 vertebrate animal species reveals that using them for food, medicine or the pet trade is helping push some toward extinction.

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  3. Life

    Young squash bugs seek out adults’ poop for an essential microbe

    Squash bug nymphs don’t rely on their parents to pick up a bacterium they’d die without. They find it on their own.

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  4. Animals

    A grisly trick helps snow flies survive freezing: self-amputation

    When a snow fly’s leg begins to freeze, a quick amputation can prevent ice from spreading, keeping the cold-hardy insect alive.

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  5. Animals

    Bottlenose dolphin moms use baby talk with their calves

    When their babies are near, bottlenose dolphin moms modify their signature whistles, similar to human parents speaking in baby talk.

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  6. Animals

    DNA has revealed the origin of this giant ‘mystery’ gecko

    A genetic analysis of a 19th century museum specimen, the only known example of the planet’s biggest gecko, has rewritten the animal’s backstory.

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  7. Tech

    How understanding horses could inspire more trustworthy robots

    Computer scientist Eakta Jain pioneered the study of how human-horse interactions could help improve robot design and shape human-robot interactions.

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  8. Life

    ‘Polyester bees’ brew beer-scented baby food in plastic cribs

    Ptiloglossa bees’ baby food gets its boozy fragrance from fermentation by mysteriously selected microbes.

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  9. Animals

    Camouflaging wheat with a wheat smell could be a new approach to pest control

    Wheat fields coated in wheat germ oil confuse the noses of mice, reducing seed loss by more than 60 percent, a new study finds.

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  10. Animals

    Bowhead whales may have a cancer-defying superpower: DNA repair

    Bowhead whale cells repair damaged DNA exceptionally well, an ability that could prevent cancer and help the marine mammals live for centuries

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  11. Animals

    RNA editing helps octopuses cope with the cold

    California two-spot octopuses tweak the proteins they make, potentially to help maintain brain function when temperatures dip.

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  12. Life

    50 years ago, flesh-eating screwworms pushed scientists to mass produce flies

    "Fly factories” dreamed up in the early 1970s have helped North and Central America keep screwworms in check for decades.

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